"The Imperialism of Free Trade" is an academic article by
John Gallagher and
Ronald Robinson
Ronald "Robbie" Edward Robinson, FBA (3 September 1920 – 19 June 1999) was a distinguished historian of the British Empire who between 1971 and 1987 held the Beit Professorship of Commonwealth History at the University of Oxford.
After schoo ...
first published in ''
The Economic History Review'' in 1953. The article was influential in the debate concerning the causes of
British imperial expansion in the 19th-century which, since
John A. Hobson
John Atkinson Hobson (6 July 1858 – 1 April 1940) was an English economist and social scientist. Hobson is best known for his writing on imperialism, which influenced Vladimir Lenin, and his theory of underconsumption.
His principal and ea ...
's ''
Imperialism: A Study'' (1902), had focused on economic motivation. Instead, Gallagher and Robinson claimed that the
New Imperialism
In historical contexts, New Imperialism characterizes a period of colonial expansion by European powers, the United States, and Japan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Com
The period featured an unprecedented pursuit of over ...
– "the new spate of imperial expansion that gathered momentum from the 1880s" – could be best characterised as a continuation of a longer-term policy begun in the 1850s in which
informal empire, based on the principles of
free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...
, was favoured over formal imperial control unless circumstances made such rule impossible.
As well as reigniting scholarly interest in theorizing New Imperialism, the article helped launch the
Cambridge School of historiography.
The arguments proposed in the article were later developed in a full-length book, ''
Africa and the Victorians'' (1961), in conjunction with Alice Denny. The book put forward a subtly different explanation for European expansion in Africa, built around
geopolitics
Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ ''gê'' "earth, land" and πολιτική ''politikḗ'' "politics") is the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations. While geopolitics usually refers to ...
and a strategy of protecting
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
from encroachment by other European powers. The strategic model and its relevance to East Africa was criticised for its limited documentary basis and sequential inconsistencies by
John Darwin in 1997, a refutation that was further consolidated and contextualised by Jonas Gjersø in 2015.
Reviewing the debate from the end of the 20th century, historian Martin Lynn argues that Gallagher and Robinson exaggerated its impact. He says that Britain achieved its goal of increasing its economic interests in many areas, "but the broader goal of 'regenerating' societies and thereby creating regions tied as 'tributaries' to British economic interests was not attained." The reasons were:
The idea that free-trade imperial states use informal methods to secure their expanding economic influence has attracted
Marxist historiographers to use the theory to describe how the modern economic policies of the United States and the imperialist policies of Great Britain are essentially the same, in both motive and method.
[Chris Grocott and Jo Grady. "‘Naked abroad’: The continuing imperialism of free trade." ''Capital & Class'' 38.3 (2014): 541–562.]
References
Further reading
* Cain, Peter J., and Antony Gerald Hopkins. ''British Imperialism: Innovation and Expansion 1688–1914'' (Routledge, 2014)
*
*Platt, D. C. M. "The Imperialism of Free Trade: Some Reservations", ''The Economic History Review,'' New Series, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Aug., 1968), pp. 296–306
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External links
Talking Empire: The Gallagher-Robinson Controversyat the
University of Exeter
, mottoeng = "We Follow the Light"
, established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter)
, type = Public
, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imperialism of Free Trade, The
Books about economic history
History of international trade
Works about New Imperialism
1953 documents
Academic journal articles
Historiography of the British Empire
Free trade imperialism